It’s somehow fitting that Douglas Luiz was making his Champions League bow at the same time as Aston Villa on Tuesday evening.
Unai Emery’s side kicked off their Champions League campaign at 5:45 pm, UK summer time, against the Swiss champions Young Boys in Bern.
At the same time in Turin, Luiz was on the bench for Juventus’ opener against Dutch side PSV.
Villa cruised to a comfortable win over Young Boys, with Youri Tielemans, Jacob Ramsey and Amadou Onana all getting on the scoresheet.
The Midlands side were 2-0 up by half-time and it could have been more – Ollie Watkins had a goal ruled out for handball, even though replays showed that the ball hit his chest.
Meanwhile, Juve were also 2-0 up by the break and also netted a third, but unlike their soon-to-be opponents, they couldn’t keep a clean sheet.
A lot was made of Villa losing Luiz in the summer, with the club annoyed and frustrated by the Profit Sustainability Rules (PSR) that meant they had to sell such a key player.
But Luiz has struggled since moving to Juventus, even though the Italian giants are unbeaten after four matches in Serie A.
Douglas Luiz’s Champions League debut
Luiz was recently left out of Brazil’s squad, so he needs to find some form to get back up and running again.
The 26-year-old came on for the last 15 minutes against PSV, having a 100% pass completion rate and winning one aerial dual.
WhoScored handed him a rating of 6.10 for his small time on the pitch, with Juventus conceding in stoppage time.
Douglas Luiz’s return to Villa Park
There were several tasty ties for the fans to look forward to, including Luiz returning to Villa Park later on in the year.
Juventus are one of two Italian clubs who will travel to the Midlands, with Bayern Munich set to be their first Champions League home game and Celtic their final one of this newly revamped group stage.
There is no doubt that Luiz will get a standing ovation from the home fans because he played a key role in Villa’s return to the Champions League.
Back in 2019, the club signed players like Luiz to get them to this very situation, it’s a crying shame that he isn’t donning the Claret and Blue colours to be a part of it, but he is still fondly remembered.
